The Flossmoor District 161 school board found a solution to its need for more pre-kindergarten services. At its April 27 meeting the board accepted a plan that will be cost-neutral while creating a full-day Preschool for All program at Flossmoor Hills School.
At its March meeting, the board discussed how best to meet the needs of the youngest students in the district, recognizing that helping a student early could eliminate the need for special services in the upper grades.
One plan was to add a new preschool classroom. That plan called for additional staffing and other ancillary costs, plus transportation expenses. The board would need more than $800,000.
With the adopted plan using current space, there are no additional costs.
The district’s current Preschool for All program gives two-and-a-half hours of daily instruction to children between the ages of 3 and 5, specifically targeting those who may benefit from academic support.
The plan is to convert the existing Blended Preschool classroom into a full-day Preschool for All program. Overall, the change will reduce the total program enrollment cap from 110 to 100 students, according to Jackie Janicke, director of special education, but the district’s current enrollment is 86, so the district still has space for more children.
“We’re just making the program a full-day program, instead of the half-days,” she told the Chronicle. “Financially, it just seemed this is the better route to go right now. We’re still meeting the needs of the program, which is what we wanted to make sure we did.”
The recommended changes are grant funded, so there will be little impact on local funding, Janicke said in a memo to the school board.
Superintendent Dana Smith applauded the board that has been examining the needs of this program since 2024.
“You think about the stick-with-it-ness and willingness to go back and forth. This is a very challenging topic,” he said.
Member Ashly Giddens thanked Smith and staff for their work on the changes, and Board President David Linnear said he believed this change will help the district meet its long-term goals for success.
